ABU DHABI // Three huge interactive screens have been installed at the headquarters of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to present information about ongoing court cases.
Located at the entrance of the cases management department, the screens aim to make the court service more accessible to the public.
Through touchscreen technology users can inquire about the status of a certain case – by entering its number – or the whereabouts of a case file.
They can also view the number of cases that have been held on that day, week, month or year.
A second screen provides automatic figures of cases heard that day, verdicts issued and hearings adjourned.
So, for instance, last Monday the screen showed that there were 1,059 cases being heard that day, 206 of which had received verdicts while 259 were adjourned.
Since the beginning of the year until Monday 10,422 cases had been registered, of which 4,876 had been resolved.
Details of each case, such as session dates, timings and decisions issued, are also available.
The screens are available for anyone to use during court operating hours, and the services provided will also soon be available on the Judicial Department’s website – www.adjd.gov.ae.
Even the number of people entering and exiting the commercial court is provided.
“This is important to identify the rush hours and the workload, so management can revise distribution of employees,” said Counselor Asmaa Al Suwaidi. “Also for security reasons, if there was an emergency at the building, such as a fire, we’ll know how many people are still stuck inside.”
The traffic is counted through reading sensors placed at the entrances and exits of the court.
As yet, this has been applied only at the commercial court, because there are no plans to move its location any time soon.
“It is very costly to apply this feature, and since we are moving from this building [the main headquarters of the department] there is no point setting the sensors now,” said Ms Al Suwaidi.
Another innovation is that all folders containing case records now have a computer chip installed in them, so they can be found promptly if misplaced. This has already been applied on all case files at the commercial court.
Al Nahow Al Ameri, head of development, analysis and programming, entered the number of a case file in the system, and a floor map of the commercial court appeared with a green dot showing the location of the file. A display picture of the employee who is in possession of the file also shows on the top left corner of the screen.
There is also an option to view the history of the file’s movement with a given timing and date. A small diagram of a person carrying a file appears and tracks the location where the file is moving from.
“If a file needs to be taken out of court for investigative or expert reasons, the judge himself needs to enter the permit in the system,” said Ms Al Ameri. “If there was no permit issued, as soon as the file passes through the door, the alarm will go off, the gate will shut down, and the security officer present at the gate will receive a message notifying him of the issue.”
Users can also find figures for an average of how many sessions it took for cases in different courts to be processed and finalised.
“So if a person wants to file a lawsuit, he can know about how many sessions it will take to receive a verdict.”
Another chart shows the clearance rate of cases during a given period.
“This encourages investors, when they see that commercial cases are processed quickly,” Ms Al Ameri explained. “Also if you look at labour court cases, this encourages people to work here and is good for human rights.”
Last year, from 2,929 cases heard in the commercial court, 908 were processed within three months and 921 within six months. As for major labour court cases, out of 576 cases heard, 151 were cleared within three months and 172 within six months.
Another screen provides live updates on Google Earth of the last case registered in each court across the Abu Dhabi emirate. The screen zooms in on a three-dimensional model of the court where the case was registered.
hdajani@thenational.ae